The Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) will have to respond to the notice issued earlier by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) about the issues resulting from operation of the Sheeshambada waste management and recycling plant which was apparently having a negative effect on the children nearby, said chairperson of SCPCR Usha Negi.

 During January, the SCPCR had issued a notice to the pollution control board on the complaints of the locals stating that the foul smell and disease causing conditions were occurring in the area due to the waste management plant. The children were bound to stay indoors and had to use masks all the time which was causing hindrance in their studies as per the complaints of locals.

Around that time, the plant was also operating without No Objection Certificate (NOC) but the board has recently renewed the NOC of the plant. Reportedly, UEPPCB has not responded to the notice of the commission so far. According to Negi, if the board has renewed NOC of the plant, it will have to explain on what grounds the board renewed it because the locals are still not satisfied.

It is important to know whether the board has handled all the issues of the plant, said Negi. On being asked about the notice issued by SCPCR, the UEPPCB chief environment officer SS Pal responded by saying that nothing is being done due to the lockdown and all the work in the board will possibly resume only after the lockdown is lifted.